Joshua Tree Report: June 4th, 2017

This is the Joshua Tree Report for June 4th, 2017.

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 73° Fahrenheit and the weather is fair. The temperature in Kirkwall is 8° centigrade and the weather is partly cloudy. The temperature in Muscat is 37° centigrade and the weather is clear. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $47.66, and $1.28 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the Ardverikie Estate, filming location of Monarch of the Glen and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

In the News

Here are a few of this week's top stories.

Iran's Growing Casualty Count in Yemen (War on the Rocks)

Turkey’s German Spy Network (RUSI)

Why the Trump Administration Should Reconsider Oman (Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington)

Moving Al-Udeid Base from Qatar Discussed in Washington D.C. (Small Wars Journal)

Zanbaq square: Huge blast in Afghanistan's Kabul mapped (al Jazeera)

What Is the Haqqani Network? (Voice of America)

Bahrain court dissolves main secular opposition group (BBC News)

Muammar Putin at the Versailles (al Jazeera)

US begins sending weapons to Kurdish YPG in Syria (al Jazeera)

Syrian rebels: US sends more arms against Iran threat (al Jazeera)

US begins sending arms to Kurdish fighters in Syria (AFP)

Algeria and Morocco urged to assist Syrian refugees (al Jazeera)

Rehab for jihadists (BBC News)

Superheroes and hijabs: Malaysia's Muslim cosplayers (al Jazeera)

Security Firm Discovers Link Between WannaCry Ransomware and Southern China (Gizmodo)

Who Are the Shadow Brokers? (Schneier on Security)

Tainted Leaks (Schneier on Security)

Defense contractor stored intelligence data in Amazon cloud unprotected [Updated] (Ars Technica)

Trump decision 'will encourage activists' (BBC News)

Fragile future for US nuclear power (BBC News)

Ninety jobs at oil giant Shell to go in Aberdeen (BBC News)

The Pentagon Is Still Worried About Climate Change (War is Boring)

Time Is Running Out to Avert Climate Wars (War is Boring)

Back From The Dead? Reported Sightings Fuel Hope For Return Of Tasmanian Tigers (NPR)

BA flights disrupted for third day after IT crash (AFP)

How to Spring Clean Your Digital Clutter to Protect Yourself (Wired)

How to Build a Smart Home Where Everything Might Actually Work (Gizmodo)

I’m a Portlander. Political Extremism Is Poison (War is Boring)

Field of Dreams: A Farm-League Approach to OA-X (War on the Rocks)

CT scans to 'improve' Scotland's sheep stocks (BBC News)

Belgium: Female students asked to wear low-cut tops to graduation (BBC News)

In 1905, Japanese Battleships Pulverized a Russian Fleet (War is Boring)

Unexploded device found on Brough of Birsay () Top Podcasts

These were my favorite podcasts from the last week.

Guardian Long Read: Killer, kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin – podcast (The Guardian)

Stretching the special forces thin (War College)

Risky Business #456 -- Your MSP *will* get you owned (Risky Business)

Episode 196 - WannaCry: Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda (The Southern Fried Security Podcast)

D4E6 - Communications & Network Security (CyberSecStudy)

D5E1 - Identity & Access Management (CyberSecStudy)

D5E2 - Identity & Access Management (CyberSecStudy)

D5E3 - Identity & Access Management (CyberSecStudy)

D5E4 - Identity & Access Management (CyberSecStudy)

D5E5 - Identity & Access Management (CyberSecStudy)

D6E1 - Security Assessment & Testing (CyberSecStudy)

D6E2 - Security Assessment & Testing (CyberSecStudy)

For king and another country: Indian soldiers on the Western Front (The National Archives)

Sahib, the British soldier in India, 1750 - 1914 (The National Archives)

Sources for army officers' commissions (The National Archives)

Voices of the First World War: After Kut (BBC)

Voices of the First World War: Kut: Sand, Mud, Mirage (BBC)

Voices of the First World War: Jutland (BBC)

Voices of the First World War: Salonika (BBC)

Episode 1 - Forgotten Heroes, The Indian Army in the Great War (BBC)

WW1 At Home 1 - Spies, Bravery & Acme Whistles (BBC)

Radiolab: Shots Fired: Part One (Radiolab)

Radiolab: Shots Fired: Part Two (Radiolab)

Course Report

ENG 199: I didn't do any reading this week.
PAC 130: I didn't do any physical training this week.
BA 480/CS 406: I listened to eight CyberSecStudy CISSP exam preparation podcasts and reviewed the OSI Model twice.
PI5502: I reviewed a number of documents from the Qatar Digital Library.
HST 406 (OGHAP): I listened to eight podcasts about the First World War.

Quote of the Week

"Another evil which comes from the superficial notice of historical events, is that some readers are either wholly ignorant of the events, or cannot call them to remembrance sufficiently to be able to grasp the author's meaning, so that there is no alternative between either accepting blindly what is said, or remaining unconvinced."
- Carl von Clausewitz, On War, Book 2 Chapter 6

Joshua Tree Report: May 29th, 2017

This is the Joshua Tree Report for May 28th, 2017, but posted on May 29th because it's a three day weekend and I got accordingly distracted.

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 62° Fahrenheit and the weather is fair. The temperature in Kirkwall is 9° centigrade and the weather is partly cloudy. The temperature in Muscat is 41° centigrade and the weather is sunny. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $49.80, and $1.24 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the an escarpment near the Algeria-Libya-Niger tripoint.

In the News

Here are a few of this week's top stories.

Saudi Arabia Can't Win Its Own Battles (War is Boring)

US, Saudi agree arms deals worth almost $110 billion: White House (AFP)

US-Saudi arms mega deal looks to counter Iran (AFP)

Bahrain: 5 dead as security forces clash with 'outlaws' (al Jazeera)

Qatar says state news agency hacked after report cites emir criticising US (BBC News)

Qatar to 'prosecute perpetrators' of QNA hacking (al Jazeera)

Misrata Militants Are Winning the Air War in Southwest Libya (War is Boring)

Can OPEC prevent another oil price collapse? (al Jazeera)

Erdogan says EU must decide on Turkey membership (AFP)

After Bailing Out Assad, the Russian Military Risks a Syria Quagmire (War is Boring)

China backs security services after spy deaths report (AFP)

China flexes muscle in spy games against US (AFP)

Moody's downgrades China over surging debt fears (al Jazeera)

Beijing's new weapon in economic war: Chinese tourists (AFP)

China Wants to Sell Attack Helicopters to the World (War is Boring)

Russian Hackers Are Using "Tainted" Leaks to Sow Disinformation (Wired)

E-mails phished from Russian critic were “tainted” before being leaked (Ars Technica)

Florida Republican Who Teamed Up With Guccifer 2.0 Says Secretly Working With Russia Is NBD (Gizmodo)

Foreign fighters 'among Philippines militants' (BBC News)

Calm Down, Everyone. America is Still Committed to Europe’s Defense (War on the Rocks)

Trump budget cut would make UN work 'impossible' (al Jazeera)

Trump’s Bigger Fleet Is Dead in the Water (War is Boring)

More people infected by recent WCry worm can unlock PCs without paying ransom (Ars Technica)

Windows 7, not XP, was the reason last week’s WCry worm spread so widely (Ars Technica)

There's new evidence tying WCry ransomware worm to prolific hacking group (Ars Technica)

Jury out on North Korea link to ransomware attack (AFP)

Exclusive: North Korea's Unit 180, the cyber warfare cell that worries the West (Reuters)

How the APT32 Hacking Group Operates (Wired)

Think Before You Tweet In the Wake of an Attack (Wired)

How Facebook's tentacles reach further than you think (BBC News)

Italy's pollution-eating cement (al Jazeera)

Turning CO2 into stone in Iceland (al Jazeera)

First oil flows from redeveloped Schiehallion field (BBC News)

Birmingham University to open campus in the Gulf (BBC News)

Saudi Arabia: Ramadan moon sighting continues on Friday (al Jazeera)

Ramadan 2017: Why is it so important for Muslims? (al Jazeera)

Russian explorers find 'swamp' of Soviet money (BBC News)

Top Podcasts

These were my favorite podcasts from the last week.

What North Korea wants (War College)

Climate and Security: An Interview with Brig. Gen Gerry Galloway and Rear Adm. Dave Titley (SpyCast)

Episode 195 - Annual Policy Review - Making it Worthwhile (The Southern Fried Security Podcast)

Risky Business #455 -- What a mess (Risky Business)

D3E6 - Security Engineering (CyberSecStudy)

D4E1 - Communications & Network Security (CyberSecStudy)

D4E2 - Communications & Network Security (CyberSecStudy)

D4E3 - Communications & Network Security (CyberSecStudy)

D4E4 - Communications & Network Security (CyberSecStudy)

D4E5 - Communications & Network Security (CyberSecStudy)

Archive Notes: Prosthetics and the First World War (The National Archives)

Digitising MH 47 the Middlesex military service appeal tribunal (The National Archives)

America Prepares for War (The MacArthur Memorial)

Event: Passchendaele - A New History (King's College London War Studies Podcast)

The Americans S:5 | E:3 The Midges (The Americans Podcast by Slate Magazine)

The Americans S:5 | E:4 What's the Matter With Kansas? (The Americans Podcast by Slate Magazine)

The Americans S:5 | E:5 Lotus 1-2-3 (The Americans Podcast by Slate Magazine)

Course Report

ENG 199: I didn't do any reading.
PAC 130: Still basically suspended.
BA 480/CS 406: I listened to six CyberSecStudy CISSP preparation podcasts.
PI5502: I checked out a bunch of archival materials at the Qatar Digital Archive, and made a game-changing discovery.
HST 406 (OGHAP): I didn't do anything OGHAP-related last week.

Quote of the Week

"Argument, properly understood and subject always to charity, is merely a dialogue in which both parties intend to arrive at the truth, or at least end up closer to it."
- Joseph Pearce, C.S. Lewis & The Catholic Church

Joshua Tree Report: May 21st, 2017

This is the Joshua Tree Report for May 14th, 2017.

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 62° Fahrenheit and the weather is partly cloudy. The temperature in Kirkwall is 9° centigrade and the weather is partly cloudy. The temperature in Muscat is 41° centigrade and the weather is sunny. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $50.33, and $1.30 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the Saint Antony Coptic Orthodox Monastery outside Barstow, California.

In the News

Here are a few of this week's top stories.

Foreign Advisers Are Turning Kurdish Soldiers Into Professionals (War is Boring)

Very Quietly, Israel and Iraqi Kurdistan Build Ties (War is Boring)

Report: Arab states offer Israel improved ties in exchange for peace concessions (Jerusalem Post)

US-Saudi relations: A timeline (al Jazeera)

Kuwaitis Debate Power over Citizenship (Arab Gulf Studies Institute in Washington, D.C.)

Analysis: Iran steps up support for terrorism in Bahrain (Long War Journal)

There’s No Such Thing as the ‘Arab Street’ (Wall Street Journal)

Why China's Nervous Over South Korea's New Missile Defense System (Foxtrot Alpha)

China's Silk Road project: A trap or an opportunity? (al Jazeera)

Jordanian spies provided ISIL bomb intel: officials (al Jazeera)

What does the Haftar-Serraj meeting mean for Libya? (al Jazeera)

How Gorbachev Destroyed the USSR's Military Space Program, and What It Cost Russia (Sputnik)

Looks Like the Russians Tried to Lure U.S. Stealth Fighters Into an Intel Trap (War is Boring)

U.S. Air Force Sends Robotic F-16s Into Mock Combat (War is Boring)

Broken and Unreadable: Our Unbearable Aversion to Doctrine (Small Wars Journal)

Women: A NATO Special Operations Forces Force Multiplier (Small Wars Journal)

Today’s Massive Ransomware Attack Was Mostly Preventable—Here’s How To Avoid It (Gizmodo)

The Ransomware Meltdown Experts Warned About Is Here (Wired)

Global Ransomware Attack 'Accidentally' Halted But It's Probably Not Over [Updated] (Gizmodo)

How an Accidental "Kill Switch" Slowed Friday's Massive Ransomware Attack (Wired)

How I accidentally stopped a global Wanna Decryptor ransomware attack (Ars Technica)

If You Still Use Windows XP, Prepare For the Worst (Wired)

WCry is so mean Microsoft issues patch for 3 unsupported Windows versions (Ars Technica)

Microsoft Issues WanaCrypt Patch for Windows 8, XP (Krebs on Security)

Windows XP PCs infected by WCry can be decrypted without paying ransom (Ars Technica)

A WannaCry Flaw Could Help Some Windows XP Victims Get Files Back (Wired)

5 Tools To Protect Yourself From Ransomware (Wired)

High-Profile Extortion Hacks Aren't Paying Off (Wired)

Hackers Behind Massive Ransomware Attack Have Made an Embarrassingly Small Amount of Money (Gizmodo)

The WannaCry Ransomware Hackers Made Some Real Amateur Mistakes (Wired)

'Wana' Ransomware Outbreak Earned Perpetrators $26000 So Far (Krebs on Security)

Researchers eye possible N Korea link to cyberattacks (al Jazeera)

Virulent WCry ransomware worm may have North Korea’s fingerprints on it (Ars Technica)

The WannaCry Ransomware Has a Link to Suspected North Korean Hackers (Wired)

U.S. In Computer Attacks, Clues Point to Frequent Culprit: North Korea (New York Times)

Two days after WCry worm, Microsoft decries exploit stockpiling by governments (Ars Technica)

Fearing Shadow Brokers leak, NSA reported critical flaw to Microsoft (Ars Technica)

Why Governments Won't Let Go of Secret Software Bugs (Wired)

The Cyber Workforce Gap: A National Security Liability? (War on the Rocks)

The US Senate Is Using Signal (Schneier on Security)

What "Classified Information" Means, and What Happens If You Divulge It (Lifehacker)

Companies Are Creating So Much Data, It Has to Be Shipped in Trucks (Gizmodo)

Yacht Security (Schneier on Security)

Sheepdog rescued by coastguard after Shetland cliff fall (BBC News)

The Sinking of HMS ‘Victoria’ Led the Royal Navy Astray (War is Boring)

Top Podcasts

These were my favorite podcasts from the last week.

MWI Podcast Ep. 05 - "Zombies and Global Security" with Max Brooks (Modern Warfare Institute)

Radiolab: Nukes (Radiolab)

Inquiry: How did North Korea get the Bomb? (BBC World Service)

DocArchive: The Web Sheikh and the Muslim Mums (BBC World Service)

Has Moscow Already Taken Down the Trump Administration? (Council on Foreign Relations)

Area 45: Cyber Security (The Hoover Institution)

Episode 092 – The Trouble With Dating Michael Bazzell (Social Engineer)

Risky Business #454 -- Intel AMT latest, TavisO's horror-show Windows bug, Macron leaks and more! (Risky Business)

D3E1 - Security Engineering (CyberSecStudy)

D3E2 - Security Engineering (CyberSecStudy)

D3E3 - Security Engineering (CyberSecStudy)

D3E4 - Security Engineering (CyberSecStudy)

D3E5 - Security Engineering (CyberSecStudy)

Minds at War - Fighting France (BBC World Service)

'Over the top: a foul a blurry foul' - the first football charge of the First World War (The National Archives)

The Final Whistle: the Great War in 15 players - a London rugby club at war 1914-1918 (The National Archives)

The National Archives: Secrecy and government records (The National Archives)

Aberdeen Maritime Museum Podcast #2 Thermopylae (Aberdeen Maritime Museum)

Course Report

ENG 199: Suspended!
PAC 130: Suspended!
BA 480/CS 406: I listened to five CyberSecStudy podcasts, and I think I applied for about six jobs.
PI5502: I invested some time to figure out what potential items of interest are available at the Qatar Digital Library.
HST 406 (OGHAP): I re-read chapter six of The Gordon Highlanders: A Concise History by Trevor Royle.

Quote of the Week

"The other day I had a meeting at the provincial governor's office... All these notables came in and rubbed their beards against mine, a sign of endearment and respect. I simply could not get my message across in these meetings unless I made some accommodations with the local culture and values. Afghanistan is not like other countries. It's a throwback. You've got to compromise and go a little native."
- Major Kevin Holiday, USA, quoted by Robert Kaplan in Imperial Grunts

Joshua Tree Report: May 14th, 2017

This is the Joshua Tree Report for May 14th, 2017.

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 56° Fahrenheit and the weather is fair. The temperature in Kirkwall is 7° centigrade and the weather is clear. The temperature in Muscat is 38° centigrade and the weather is sunny. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $47.84, and $1.28 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the Principality of Hutt River in Western Australia.

In the News

Here are a few of this week's top stories.

Qatar FM: No substitute for Bashar al-Assad's departure (al Jazeera)

Trump to send arms to Kurdish YPG in Syria (al Jazeera)

Tunisia orders army to protect oil and gas fields (al Jazeera)

Libya foreign minister names Khalifa Haftar army chief (al Jazeera)

'Jihad pills' found by Dutch and Italian police (BBC News)

Palestinian hunger strike leader Barghouti 'filmed eating' (BBC News)

Pizza Hut Barghouti ad prompts boycott call (BBC News)

SOF's Evolving Role: Warfare 'By, With, and Through' Local Forces (RAND Corporation)

Estonia faces cross-border beaver problem (BBC News)

Only One Country Has Ever Voluntarily Given Up Its Nukes (Jalopnik)

The Bipartisan Case against James Comey (National Review)

Comey’s Overdue Departure (National Review)

Why was James Comey so controversial? (al Jazeera)

Obama’s Conflict Tanked the Clinton E-mail Investigation — As Predicted (National Review)

How to Blow an Election — in Five Easy Steps (National Review)

AHCA & Pre-Existing Conditions -- The Big Lie Democrats Are Telling (National Review)

Microsoft CEO: tech sector needs to prevent '1984' future (AFP)

Microsoft Is Right: We Need a Digital Geneva Convention (Wired)

Hacked Macron Emails Leak Online Ahead of French Presidential Runoff Election (Wired)

The NSA Confirms It: Russia Hacked French Election 'Infrastructure' (Wired)

Evidence suggests Russia behind hack of French president-elect (Ars Technica)

Don't Pin the Macron Email Hack on Russia Just Yet (Wired)

Macron campaign team used honeypot accounts to fake out Fancy Bear (Ars Technica)

Cisco kills leaked CIA 0-day that let attackers commandeer 318 switch models (Ars Technica)

Microsoft's recent success in blocking in-the-wild attacks is eerily good (Ars Technica)

HP laptops covertly log user keystrokes, researchers warn (Ars Technica)

More Android phones than ever are covertly listening for inaudible sounds in ads (Ars Technica)

Website Flaw Let True Health Diagnostics Users View All Medical Record (Krebs on Security)

Ransomware infections reported worldwide (BBC News)

There's a Massive Ransomware Attack Spreading Globally Right Now [Updated] (Gizmodo)

Massive ransomware attack hits UK hospitals, Spanish banks (Ars Technica)

U.K. Hospitals Hit in Widespread Ransomware Attack (Krebs on Security)

A Massive Ransomware 'Explosion' Is Hitting Targets All Over the World (Vice Motherboard)

Comey: 15 Percent of Terror Cases Came as Refugees (National Review)

Suspect in California drink-drive crash 'deported 15 times' (BBC News)

Rescued Orkney diver 'could have been found sooner' (BBC News)

Aberdeen's Gordon Highlanders Museum 'could face closure' (BBC News)

Rare flowers destroyed in Australia after paperwork error (BBC News)

Scottish fishermen given Brexit assurance (BBC News)

The Falklands penguins that would not explode (BBC News)

A Love Affair With Dates, The Fruit At The Cultural Heart Of Oman (NPR)

Top Podcasts

These were my favorite podcasts from the last week.

Deep Undercover: An Interview with Former KGB Illegal Jack Barsky (SpyCast)

A Keynote Conversation with General (Ret.) David Petraeus [2016 Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference] (National Council for U.S.-Arab Relations)

Franklin expedition: myths, archeology & Canadian identity (King's College London War Studies Podcast)

Security Studies Podcast Episode 12 - David Fahrenkrug on Cyber Warfare (Georgetown University)

Risky Business #453 -- The Intel bugs: How freaked out should you be? (Risky Business)

Inquiry: Why Is No-one Trying to Stop the War in Yemen? (BBC World Service)

DocArchive: Subversion, Russia and the West (BBC World Service)

Episode 194 - Evaluating Security Product Vendors (The Southern Fried Security Podcast)

Security Management Highlights May 2017 (ASIS)

The myth of the ‘lone wolf’ terrorist – podcast (The Guardian)

The quest to crack and preserve vintage Apple II software – tech podcast (The Guardian)

D1E5 - Security & Risk Management (CyberSecStudy)

D1E4 - Security & Risk Management (CyberSecStudy)

D1E6 - Security & Risk Management (CyberSecStudy)

D2E1 - Asset Security (CyberSecStudy)

D2E2 - Asset Security (CyberSecStudy)

The National Archives: Sailors, storms and science: how Royal Navy logbooks help us understand climate change (The National Archives)

Sources for First World War army ancestry (The National Archives)

From the Somme to Arras (The National Archives)

Shell-Shocked Britain: Understanding the lasting trauma of the First World War (The National Archives)

The Origins of Naval Station Norfolk (The MacArthur Memorial)

Course Report

ENG 199: Suspended for this week!
PAC 130: Suspended! Who has the time!?
BA 480/CS 406: I listened to, and took notes from, eight CyberSecStudy podcasts.
PI5502: Suspended for this week!
HST 406 (OGHAP): I listened to a few podcasts and re-read chapter six of The Gordon Highlanders: A Concise History by Trevor Royle.

Quote of the Week

"At the outbreak of war Field Marshal Lord Kitchener was appointed Secretary for War and at his first Cabinet meeting he astonished his colleagues by claiming that the war would last for a minimum of three years and would require over one million men to win it."
- Trevor Royle, The Gordon Highlanders: A Concise History

Joshua Tree Report: May 9th, 2017

This is the Joshua Tree Report for May 7th, 2017... Except that it's being posted on May 9th, 2017.

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 61° Fahrenheit and the weather is partly cloudy. The temperature in Kirkwall is 6° centigrade and the weather is rainy. The temperature in Muscat is 39° centigrade and the weather is sunny. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $45.88, and $1.29 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the location of U2's since-deceased Joshua Tree outside Keeler, California.

In the News

Here are a few of top stories from the last couple of weeks.

Why did Trump win? New research by Democrats offers a worrisome answer. (Washington Post)

Trump's Syria Strike Fell Short (War is Boring)

Russian Election Hacks in France and Germany Are Still Active Despite US Sanctions (Wired)

Activity at North Korea nuclear site resumes: monitor (al Jazeera)

UAE's battle-hardened military expands into Africa, Mideast (ABC News)

Hundreds of Apps Can Listen for Marketing 'Beacons' You Can't Hear (Wired)

Who is Publishing NSA and CIA Secrets, and Why? (Schneier on Security)

Man pleads not guilty in murder case using Fitbit evidence (Associated Press)

The State Department Wants 5 Years of Social Media Handles From Refugees Before Entry (Gizmodo)

Watchdog Tells Congress to Slow Down New ‘Frigate’ Program (War is Boring)

How the IED won: Dispelling the myth of tactical success and innovation (War on the Rocks)

Milley: In future wars, creature comforts are out and disobeying orders is in (Army Times)

Will the COINdinistas Rise Again? (The National Interest)

The U.S. Military Can Learn a Lot From the Red Army (War is Boring)

Islamic State leader in Egypt says church bombings aren’t popular (Long War Journal)

Muslim men lynched for 'trying to steal cows' in Assam (al Jazeera)

Widely-Reported Study on Fish and Microbeads Might Have Been Faked (Gizmodo)

Making Orkney stoat-free (BBC News)

Rats 'drink seized alcohol in India's Bihar' (BBC News)

Groom in hostage situation after dowry demand (Khaleej Times)

Woman agrees to perform sex 'act' for Dh90, chicken nuggets (Khaleej Times) Top Podcasts

These were my favorite podcasts since the last Joshua Tree Report.

Event: Learned From The Russian Hack: The New Era of Political Warfare (King's College London War Studies Podcast)

The National Archives: How to publish with The National Archives (The National Archives)

The road to war: The prelude to war (The National Archives)

The road to war: At home and abroad: propaganda and intelligence (The National Archives)

Risky Business #451 -- Shadowbrokers nothingburger edition (Risky Business)

Risky Business #452 -- Are Wikileaks charges a threat to press freedom? (Risky Business)

D1E3 - Security & Risk Management (CyberSecStudy)

D1E2 - Security & Risk Management (CyberSecStudy)

The Art of Manliness #260: Knights of the Razor (The Art of Manliness)

Course Report

ENG 199: I finally completed my Wilfred Thesiger slides.
PAC 130: Suspended!
BA 480/CS 406: I listened to, and took notes from, three CyberSecStudy podcasts. I also compiled some additional podcasts for some additional certifications, and I did some investigation into the requirements for the PSP exam.
PI5502: I started reading The Saudi-Iranian Rivalry and the Future of Middle East Security.
HST 406 (OGHAP): I listened to a few podcasts and found a few new sources for my bibliography, particularly this bad boy.

Quote of the Week

"Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turn, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man."
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Joshua Tree Report: May 1st, 2017

This is the Joshua Tree Report for April 30th, 2017... Except that it's being posted on May 1st, 2017.

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 48° Fahrenheit and the weather is partly cloudy. The temperature in Kirkwall is 7° centigrade and the weather is partly cloudy. The temperature in Muscat is 37° centigrade and the weather is sunny. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $48.84, and $1.29 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the Tillamook County Creamery Association Visitors Center in Tillamook, Oregon.

In the News

Here are a few of top stories from the last couple of weeks.

Analysis: Qatar’s ill-timed hostage deal increases pressure on Washington (Long War Journal)

America's Dangerous Love for Special Ops (Small Wars Journal)

Book Review - Oppose Any Foe: The Rise of America’s Special Operations Forces (Small Wars Journal)

“America's Dangerous Love for Special Ops” - The Real Story (Small Wars Journal)

CNA Report: Special Operations Forces Want to Do More Than Just Counterterrorism (Small Wars Journal)

America's Emerging 'Little Sparta' in the Middle East (War is Boring)

How Could Taliban Breach Heavily-guarded Afghan Army Base? (VOA News)

Leaked Documents Reveal the NSA Spying on Scientists to Find 'Nefarious' Genetic Research (Gizmodo)

>10,000 Windows computers may be infected by advanced NSA backdoor (Ars Technica)

NSA backdoor detected on >55,000 Windows boxes can now be remotely removed (Ars Technica)

Researchers claim China trying to hack South Korea missile defense efforts (Ars Technica)

Five Eyes at 70: Where to from Here? (RAND Corporation)

Trumplomacy: What does US embrace of the Saudis mean? (BBC)

UAE hands Iranian 10-year sentence over sanctions breach (AFP)

Qods Force commander to advance Tehran’s influence as ambassador to Iraq (Long War Journal)

Obama’s hidden Iran deal giveaway (Politico)

When Russian Bombers Probed, U.S. Air Defenses Took No Chances (War is Boring)

US officials in Afghanistan suggest Russia arms Taliban (al Jazeera)

Russian warship sinks in the Black Sea after collision (al Jazeera)

Russia's Banged-Up Aircraft Carrier Prepares for Her Upgrade (War is Boring)

Report: Cancer Journal Retracts a Record Hundred and Seven Studies (Gizmodo)

Cassini Saturnian exploration (al Jazeera)

Weather-damaged ferry returns to Aberdeen (BBC)

As U.S. Defense Secretary, James Mattis Plots His Own Course (War is Boring)

Cow-protection vigilantes held in Jammu and Kashmir (al Jazeera)

Why does this rhino have 24-hour security? (BBC)

Couple die holding hands after 69 years of marriage (BBC)

Newlyweds at war over Trump's 100 days (BBC)

Top Podcasts

These were my favorite podcasts since the last Joshua Tree Report.

Cyber 9/12 Student Challenge (King's College London War Studies Podcast)

A Saudi Arabian Defense Doctrine for a New Era (CSIS)

Area 45: US and Russian relations (The Hoover Institution)

The Middle East Welcomes Trump, Warily (FP Editor's Roundtable)

D1E1 - Security & Risk Management (CyberSecStudy)

Episode 192 - Security Waste (The Southern Fried Security Podcast)

What's behind the Russian hacking allegations? – tech podcast (The Guardian)

2017 East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray Hustings - Tuesday 25th April 2017 (BBC Radio Orkney)

2017 Kirkwall East Hustings 2 - 18th April 2017 (BBC Radio Orkney)

Victor Davis Hanson: World War I, A Century Later (The Hoover Institution)

Victor Davis Hanson: WWI and the Lessons for Today (The Heritage Foundation)

Course Report

ENG 199: Nothing for this week.
PAC 130: Suspended, once again!
BA 480/CS 406: I took notes from one episode of the CyberSecStudy CISSP podcast, and I read FireEye's dossier on Operation Saffron Rose.
PI5502: Nothing for this week.
HST 406 (OGHAP): I listened to a couple of podcasts, notably the above-linked ones by Dr. Victor Davis Hanson.

Quote of the Week

"A tiny flicker of light that feeds on hope is enough to shatter the shield of darkness. A single individual is enough for hope to exist, and that individual can be you. And then there will be another 'you', and another 'you', and it turns into an 'us'. And so, does hope begin when we have an 'us'? No. Hope began with one 'you'. When there is an 'us', there begins a revolution."
- Pope Francis, April 2016 TED Talk

Sources on Southern Arabia, 1838-1933

I've repeatedly mentioned that I spent the first weeks of this year re-reading Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger. It's a great book, and I highly recommend it. Thesiger is well known as an explorer of the Rub al Khali, in the late 1940's when Arabia represented one of the world's last great frontiers. In the course of my studies, I identified a handful of other explorers...

- Bertram Thomas, 1929-'31; wrote Arabia Felix
- St. John Philby/"Sheikh Abdullah", 1932; wrote The Empty Quarter
- Theodore and Mabel Bent in 1895 (Qarra Mountains); wrote Southern Arabia
- Sir Percy Cox 1901 (Buraimi, Nizwa, Muscat)
- Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles 1876/1885; wrote The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf
- Adolph Gustav von Wrede 1843 (Hadhramaut)
- Aucher Eloy 1837 (Oman)
- James Raymond Wellsted 1835 (Oman); wrote Travels in Arabia

... Who wrote the following books, all of which are now in the public domain and available through the Internet Archive. (Philby's book is a bit unruly, so I might try to edit it into a single document at some point in the future.)

The Empty Quarter (1933) by St. John Philby, aka Sheikh Abdullah

Arabia Felix (1932) by Bertram Thomas

The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf (1919) by Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles

Southern Arabia (1900) by Theodore Bent

Travels in Arabia Deserta (1888) by Charles Montagu Doughty

Reise in Hadhramaut (1873) by Adolph Gustav von Wrede

Travels in Arabia (1838) by James Raymond Wellsted

UPDATE: Apparently Philby wrote another book: The Heart of Arabia: A Record of Travel and Exploration.

UPDATE: Holy smokes! Jimmy Ray (James Raymond Wellsted) wrote a lot of books. That one I linked to isn't even the one about Oman!